Roots & Branches: A writer muses on the genealogy 'addiction'

I can just about always count on my "Roots & Branches" correspondent Eric "Rick" Bender from New Mexico to weigh in with his thoughts after I write a philosophy column.

Last week's offering that mused about the beginnings of my genealogy quest was no exception.

"All true; all too true: Who'd have known where it would all lead?" Bender asked.

In his case, his wife's company sent her to suburban Philadelphia for training in 1993.

"I tagged along, visiting my boyhood homes near Philly for the first time in nearly 40 years," Bender wrote. "I followed that with my first trip — an overnighter — to Myerstown. That's when I found my ancestors' old homes. I was getting suckered!"

Bender then told his wife that if he went back to Myerstown and Lebanon for another three days "that I thought I could probably finish up the whole family history, right then and there."

"Not only was I unaware of the addictive nature of the venture, I was naive enough to believe I could be finished with it in a few days! (Yeah sure: And I can quit any time, too!), he wrote.

He says that 21 years later he's still scratching his head, "mumbling to myself (and to gravestones), and walking around with loose pieces of paper all doodled up with names and places and dates, all stuffed into pockets and folders, and all leading to still more head-scratching, mumbling, and so on."

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At least Bender admits that the "genealogy addiction" is probably considerably better than many other hard-if-not-impossible-to-break habits.

I can say, personally, that the overall genealogical community — both professional and hobbyist — is a caring, helpful and friendly one.

We share in each other's finds and commiserate over the many times our research (only temporarily, we hope) yields dry holes instead of gushers.

I have come to see that the ancestors who we take the longest time to find often become the ones most precious to us ... if only because the time we invest in making those connections often pays off with a deeper understanding of those forebears and the times in which they lived. (Though surely we should take the time to further research ancestors who were "handed to us," too, though often this task ends up being the last on a never-finished do list.)

And what other activity literally makes cousins of us all?

When you come right down to it: Who would ever want to break such a pleasant habit as learning so much more about the people who made you what you are today?

Beidler is a freelance writer and lecturer on genealogy. Contact him either at Box 270, Lebanon, PA 17042; or by email at james@beidler.us.